The NASDAQ was down 1.9% and we can see how growth stocks fared today versus value generally, the dow only dipped 0.1% so in general today more growth-oriented companies got hit harder than their counterparts from a year ago.
The markets were mixed today with many high-profile stocks seeing losses but others putting up impressive gains. For instance; Tesla Motors (TSLA) declined by about 3%, Fisker Automotive (-7%) Rivian Automobiles (-5%).
Elon Musk sold some shares on Wednesday night in anticipation of possible negative news about his company's stock price (which turned out not to be true).
Unfortunately, these disclosures came at just the wrong time as they were two days after an initial drop following reports that China may ban electric cars over pollution concerns - so you can probably blame those sales if anything else goes wrong with TSLA again soon!
Just like the last few rounds, Elon Musk just sold over 10 million shares before December 31st.
He did this by exercising a portion of his 2012 CEO performance award and then selling 934,000 to cover the tax on that exercise for about a 2.1 million total now Elon has left us with less than 20% at Tesla Motors Incorporated, but don't worry because we all know what type businessman he really is!
If we assume his 10 target is 17 million shares, he would be 59% through with the process if it was higher. Include some of his vested but not yet exercised shares and you can get as low at 40%. Somewhere between 7-15+/-million more to go!
Looking at 2012 performance awards--about 12 million remain unmatched by any transactions unless there are additional sales included in those lot sizes (5.5 million).
That would mean an increase from 20% ownership now up close 2/3rds of total stocks (with 5 days left). These actions show how seriously Elon really takes what they do because normally when people buy stocks like these there isn't much movement before taxes come into play which can cause fluctuations but not here - something tells me we might see some moves soon with those last few millions needed.
"...initial production will be for the motor variant with independent ultra-fast response torque control of each wheel."
Elon Musk's Shareholder Meeting Notes
The following is a memo detailing what I heard at Elon Musk’s recent shareholder meeting. The input tone was witty and funny so the output must be just as charming to keep people interested!
On the Q4 earnings call, Elon was asked if those with tri-motors or maybe even all reservations would be able to upgrade their vehicles, and though it was a bit ambiguous in terms of what specifically can we expect him to answer he did say yes.
So we don't really know if he means tri-motor or all but at least to some extent, there will be an opportunity to upgrade no surprise that this should give Tesla a good reason for initially starting with much higher prices than what Tesla Cybertruck was unveiled with which remember originally costing $69,000 when in context of where the market has gone since.
Plus given the amount of interest, Tesla and company’s as a whole cannot afford to lock into those price tags across the board meaning it's possible they can increase the cost even more given time
They did say they'd lock in the FSD option. But the price is still flexible on that base. It wouldn't be a good look to start charging $100,000 for something original promised at $70,000 if you introduce quad motor, etc., so maybe not too exciting news there.
The quad motor Cybertruck is a game-changer for Tesla. From the sheer product perspective, and certainly from an investor's point-of-view (with all due respect to investors), this new addition will add some excitement--however, it may be determined based on specs that can't even compare what they originally listed for their tri-motor model at a minimum price tag, of course, we'll see higher rates which should help tesla as they ramp up developing newer technology in order create such vehicle.
With more time/money put into research & development, there could potentially come greater financial rewards too though these take longer than putting out content via social media posts or sending emails.
The potential is there and a higher initial price will definitely help offset that as for that technology Elon is excited about this again today putting in quotes the insane Tech bandwagon on Twitter. He did confirm like we have heard rumored, the Cybertruck will have both front & rear-wheel steering so it would be able to do sorta crabwalk maneuver demonstrated by vehicles such as the Hummer.
I'm glad to see Elon talking more about the Cybertruck. I know it's created a lot of speculation with December 9th stuff, but maybe there is finally an answer on that product? With the 4180 batteries and a roll-out of more superchargers, the public's positive perception of EVs will start to hit the majority.
I don't think he would be continuing so much if we were all going down as planned after this latest update--we'll have our first chance at hearing from him next earnings call in early March anyway!
Elon also did give us an update on FSD beta 10.6, saying that it will be released internally today and then rolled out to external testers in a few days if there are no significant issues found during this testing phase unquote So the best-case scenario would be early next week when they release version 10.5
New Tesla App
Tesla has found a clever new way to make money off their vehicles. They are allowing people who own or rent out electric cars to add up to five additional drivers so that they can share the ride with other customers!
You simply tap "link" and enter your phone number when signing up for this service - no Social Security numbers needed (for now). This feature is only available through Tesla's website right now but it looks like they will eventually implement these features directly into the app itself too; meaning all riders should soon have access at any time without having multiple accounts set up first... sounds great doesn't it?
So I don't think this really adds any new features at this point, but just kind of integrates things into the mobile app. It looks like Tesla is putting a lot more focus on their own application and it's not surprising considering they're one-upping all competitors with high-tech cars that can drive themselves!
China Tesla Recall
In order to avoid problems with the steering knuckle on these vehicles, it may be necessary to replace them. This recall is for about 21 thousand cars produced between February and October this year in China and as you can see that's only five percent of all Tesla models made during those months!
The number might seem like a lot but considering how many there are manufactured (it equates roughly), really shouldn't pose too big an issue for customers that have to get their cars fixed.
As more Teslas are being produced, recall rates will continue to increase but hopefully, nothing more serious than this particular steering knuckle issue is found before the mid-term elections in 2018.
Tesla Giga Factory Nevada
A photo of Giga Nevada earlier this week showing a warehouse-sized Tesla Energy installation in Nevada is not only large, but it's also a bit strange.
At first glance, it seems as if all 240 megapacks or at least what are presumed to be MegaPacks that come from there look ready for shipment--seemingly just getting prepared before shipping off somewhere else? Why would they keep so many around though when half my expectations on its completion were met already.
I see that Tesla is getting its dye from a Canadian company called XCO. I'm not sure if you've heard of them before, but they make castings in the form known as "Gigapress."
I know we talked about this previously when talking about the Gigapress for Tesla's electric cars--but it appears casting needs another process beyond just one step: Dyeing and coloring materials!
On the earnings call this morning, one of their CEOs was talking about how they were able to provide all shots and tooling for Tesla's Gigapresses globally. Personally, I'm not really into supply chain stuff but it looks like XCO is a small company with a $280 million USD market cap which could make them interesting as an investment opportunity according to my understanding
I don't plan on making any positions in companies I find remotely interesting but I don't know it might be fun to get in on XCO just for the sake of it.
OH -- and they are currently working on 6 presses, one of which is what Tesla's Gigapress is based on. So it is very likely this is why their CEO was talking about a collaboration with Tesla.
Ford F-150 Lightning Delays
The Ford F-150 is coming out a little later than expected.
It seems that Ford has announced the new timeline of production and delivery on their lightning model which will be June as opposed to previously thought, with September targeted as starting point according to forums reports from yesterday's webinar where they made this surprising announcement! It could very well turn out accurate - but again we'll have confirmation soon enough so stay tuned.
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